Passion or Passivity: It’s a Matter of Heart

The medical student was shocked when he received a failing grade in radiology. Approaching the professor, he demanded to know the reason for the grade. “Remember the X-ray you took of yourself?” asked the professor. “I do.” said the student. “A fine picture,” the professor said, “of your lungs, stomach and liver.” “If it’s a fine picture, then why did you give me an F?” asked the student. The professor said, “I had no choice. You didn’t put your heart into it.”

 

People inspire me when they show they have heart. They accomplish more, they persevere, look up, live up, and perform up, even in those challenging times we all have. Often the difference between being hired and not being hired for the job you are interviewing is heart. Employers know the difference between passion and passivity.  That’s important to know in times like these.

 

Here are some real examples of what people wrote on resumes on reasons why they left their last job.  “They insisted that all employees get to work by 8:45 a.m. every morning. Couldn’t work under those circumstances.” Here’s another one. “The company made me a scapegoat – just like my three previous employers.”  Steven Wright once said humorously many believe that ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy. He also said hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off now.

 

The lesson here is that you can’t live on someone else’s heart, at least in the realm of passion and purpose. Heart gives us motivation. No one has a more driving ambition than the boy who wants to buy a car. No one ever says, “It’s only a game,” when his team is winning. Find a career you have a heart for if you have a choice. Your performance will be off the chart. Finding your passion could unleash your genius.

 

Jesus had heart. He said, “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work He started.” Jesus was born to accomplish an incredible mission and He loved it. He raised the dignity of people. He healed them physically, emotionally and spiritually. He loved them to the point of dying for them. He saves people. He connects people back with God. That takes heart!

 

Back then, Jesus was an employer looking for people who had heart to build His church. That is why He chose the disciples He did. You can point out all kinds of problems with a Peter or a John, but you could never doubt their heart. Sometimes churches and church leaders are like that medical student’s X-ray. They have the stomach, lungs, and other stuff, but they don’t have the heart. They have the smart but lack the heart. They go through the motions, but their heart is far away in another place. That leads to form without function, shadow without substance. All people and institutions are vulnerable to that, aren’t they?

 

My advice here is discover a good and true cause, venture, and career that you love and go for it! Have both heart and smart! Volunteer, serve, work hard, and excel. Maybe you need to recover that passion for God, your marriage, children, career, or just life in general. If so, do it and do it now. After all, things go much better with heart!

 

Ed Delph  November 20, 2017   CCC